Step by despicable step, the campaign to plunder one of America’s last pristine wild places for oil profits is advancing.

In a reckless effort to sell oil and gas leases in the fragile coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by the end of 2019, the Trump administration is rushing through the approval process for its dangerous plan.

Public comments on the environmental impact of drilling in the coastal plain are due Wednesday, so we have an opportunity to make our voices heard. We need to make sure that our opposition to this imminent disaster is loud and clear.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: No drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Trump administration's draft environmental analysis includes three drilling proposals for the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge, the Coastal Plain – any of which would have a devastating and irreversible impact on the people and wildlife that depend on the refuge as well as on our climate.1

The Arctic Refuge includes more than 19 million acres of protected land in northeastern Alaska, and it is home to polar bears, caribou, moose and hundreds of species of migratory birds. It is sacred land to the Gwich'in people, who live just outside the refuge and subsist on migrating caribou.

Drilling threatens the main calving ground for the Porcupine caribou herd and the cultural identity and food security of the indigenous Gwich’in people, whose way of life depends on the caribou. The Gwich'in consider the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge land sacred, and they have asked for all our support in protecting it.2

An oil spill in the Arctic Refuge would be devastating. The remote Arctic has a small population, with few facilities available to address a cleanup.3 The harsh conditions and temperatures make responding to an oil spill exorbitantly difficult and expensive. We do not know the full impact of a spill in the refuge – and that is exactly why oil companies and their friends in the Trump administration are moving so fast. They want to reap short-term profits before the public recognizes the long-term consequences for this irreplaceable region and the world's climate.

We need to stop this climate, environmental and cultural catastrophe now, before it's too late.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: No drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.